Hi Colin- I have seen a lot of mals that are awesome on the training field,(video clips make the dog look awesome) and know for a fact were socialized everywhere as a pup, but as soon as something is unfamiliar- tail is tucked and they are looking to hightail it out of there. I don't know what it is-genetics or breeding or enviorment-training? I have seen pups come from the same litter-some confident and do great, others not so good- I have seen pups from high scoring sires and dams-that will tolerate the
sport stuff, but increase the pressure to real life type stuff -not so good. (I guess you will see that with every breed)-but I have to stress- if you commit to a Mal- you must commit-learn the pedigree, the breeder, and what you want to train for. I started Hugo training at 6weeks old-don't lose time and wait for 6 months old. With all of this said, I can only tell you my experience, not an expert, but have owned over 30 dogs of my own and have trained with lots of others-currently have 10 dogs, (5 mals) I find Mals, to be a blast, fun to train-fun to compete with, they are a ton of energy- and can get destructive if not kept busy and should be fitted with its own bark collar.(mine tend to be very verbal) and I feel if you can train a mal- you can train any breed. I say some can be a hardhead-because they are very smart, and will try to figure out things for themselves- it is hard to explain- but I have actually seen them try to out wit the decoys in training- I have a couple that seem to have a switch- and if the decoy amps up the pressure-the switch is on, and this is no longer a game, this is for real. I had another that knew the routine of the program we were training- and if you did it wrong, the dog corrected you-with a bite....talk about compulsion training of the handler-
-but I have to stress- I don't know if I answered your question- but
Before you buy, educate yourself, not only on the breed, but the pedigree, the breeder- and ask people-some lines are a lot better than others. some trainers better than others, and some sellers more honest than others. Mo
